Empathy

God Bless Jimmy Carter, As He Reaches Age 100 On Tuesday!

It is hard to believe, but former President Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States, reaches age 100 on Tuesday October 1.

There have been many occasions where Carter had health crises and also lost his wife Rosalynn, and one would think his life was nearing its end.

But here he is, still mentally alert, although physically unable to take care of himself, and reaching the centenarian accomplishment.

Carter has been much underrated for a long time, and his accomplishments have not been adequately acknowledged, and instead, his failures and shortcomings, particularly with the Iran Hostage Seizure, have caused the general public and many scholars to rate him only in the mid 20s at best in Presidential rankings.

His record and accomplishments are often overlooked or ignored, including:

The Egyptian Israeli Camp David Accords

the Panama Canal Treaty

best environmental record of any one term President

his promotion of human rights

his diplomatic recognition of mainland China

three Cabinet agencies (Education, Energy, Health and Human Services)

his ethical and moral standards, and lack of corruption

his tremendous intellect and high IQ

his common decency, empathy and compassion

his genuine religiosity, being a “true” Christian, not a phony

and his post Presidency activities through the Carter Center

and Habitat For Humanity activities, including personal building of housing for the poor

Nobel Peace Prize in 2002

All these are to be applauded, and one would wish for public recognition of his greatness on Tuesday, and beyond!

Happy 80th Birthday, President Biden, A True Treasure To American Democracy!

Happy 80th Birthday to President Biden, who has been a true treasure to American democracy!

When history is written of these times, the years after Fascist authoritarian Donald Trump attempted to destroy American democracy, the Constitution, and the rule of law, it will be recorded that Joe Biden came along as the savior of our heritage of freedom, joining with Abraham Lincoln in the Civil War in the early 1860s, and Franklin D. Roosevelt in the World War II era in the early 1940s!

Now, another 80 years after 1860 and 1940, Joe Biden committed himself to defy the dictatorial nature of Donald Trump, and restore faith in America and its heritage of freedom and democracy!

Like Lincoln and FDR, Biden has been subjected to relentless character assassination and ridicule, but like Lincoln and FDR, he has stood tall and proud and brave, and has committed his later years to his country!

Do not forget that Biden is finishing 50 years of public service, since he was elected to the US Senate a few weeks short of the minimum age of 30 in 1972!

And he has been a public servant in office for all of that half century, except for the four years after leaving the Vice Presidency, having chosen not to try to run for the Presidency in 2016, due to his deep mourning for his son Beau, who died in 2015!

Just as Biden suffered through the loss of his first wife and young daughter in a traffic accident weeks after his Senate election and before he took the oath, so he suffered again in 2015 with the loss of his older son!

But he rose from a low moment to serve his nation and the world, and save it from not just foreign terrorism, but the ever greater threat of domestic terrorism!

His record in office has been superb for his first two years, and was good enough to promote the least loss of power and influence in the past 90 years in a first term midterm election!

His decision whether to run or retire should be respected, and while reaching the age of 80 is a daunting number to have so much responsibility for the nation and the world, Joe Biden, despite some shortcomings at times, runs rings around Donald Trump in knowledge, ability, intelligence, and most importantly, compassion, empathy, and common decency!

May God bless him to a long life, and commitment to his nation and the world, as history records the greatness of this man!

Biden First Press Conference A Complete Contrast To Donald Trump Attacks And Rants!

President Joe Biden held his first formal Press Conference on Thursday, and it was a home run.

The President showed knowledge, expertise, empathy, confidence, and respect for the news media, totally opposite of Donald Trump who held no press conferences most of the time, and when he did, he showed his authoritarian, Fascist leanings by dividing the nation and attacking the news media as the enemy.

Biden had an air of optimism about the future, and his public opinion ratings are in the low 60s to high 50s, a range of support NEVER reached by Donald Trump!

Biden is ambitious, and hoping to accomplish change on the level of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal and Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society, and this will require a modification of the present Senate rules, that allow a filibuster without any speaking commitment by those who wish to wage one.

There is a need for direct action on the Southern Border migration, climate change, infrastructure, gun regulation, minimum wage, and voting rights, and Biden is moving toward bold action on these issues, at a time when we have a nearly equally divided House of Representatives, and an evenly divided US Senate, and the future of this nation is at stake.

But the first Biden Press Conference demonstrated that Joe Biden is up to the task, that he has mental agility as compared to the irrational lunacy much of the time during the Trump Presidency!

Rush Limbaugh, The Master Of Hate And Division, Leaves Tremendous Damage, As He Passes Away

Rush Limbaugh, the master of hate and division, the most despicable media figure in the past 30 years, has passed away at the age of 70, but leaves behind him tremendous damage in his wake.

The master racist, nativist, misogynist, homophobe, Islamophobe, and promoter of bad behavior helped to bring on Newt Gingrich, Ted Cruz, and so many others in his admiration, and ultimately, he made Donald Trump a person that many would admire, despite his horrendous behavior and utterances!

The whole concept of common decency, compassion, concern for others, empathy, unwillingness to attack and be nasty, mean, and vicious, never seemed to have been part of the brain matter of Rush Limbaugh, and the same applies to Newt Gingrich, Ted Cruz, and most damagingly, Donald Trump.

So Limbaugh will be remembered for his evil, sinful and non Christian ways, and as encouraging the media monsters who have copied him over the years, on radio, tv and in public appearances, and have enriched themselves in the process, including such as:

Sean Hannity
Laura Ingraham
Tucker Carlson
Glenn Beck
Bill O’Reilly
Ann Coulter
Michael Savage
Mark Levin
Michelle Malkin
Dennis Prager
Ben Shapiro

First Joint Interview Of Joe Biden And Kamala Harris, With Jake Tapper Of CNN, A Homerun!

The first joint interview of President Elect Joe Biden and Vice President Elect Kamala Harris occurred on Thursday evening, with Jake Tapper on CNN.

Both Biden and Harris came across as fully engaged and planning for rapid action on four issues, in the First Hundred Days.

These are the COVID 19 Pandemic; the Second Great Depression, worst since the 1930s Great Depression; the Racial Crisis in America; and the Climate Change Crisis, which threatens the planet.

It was wonderful to see their smiles, kind faces, and the sense of empathy and competence that they both have displayed all of their political lives!

What a change from the monstrous Trump Presidency, and waiting out the 47 days to Inauguration Day on January 20 feels like an eternity!

Kamala Harris Main Arguments To Use Against Mike Pence In VP Debate On Wednesday Evening

Arguably the most important Vice Presidential debate since the first one in 1976 is taking place this Wednesday in Salt Lake City, Utah, when Vice President Mike Pence confronts California Senator Kamala Harris.

The possibility of a female Vice President in the next Presidential term heightens interest in this debate between a Vice President who has been unwilling to express his own views with his President, by every measure we have; and a Senator, who headed the Justice system of the state with one eighth of the American people residing, in California.

Kamala Harris needs to address major issues with Mike Pence, and if necessary, be persistent!

These include:

Why are you NOT asserting yourself in this COVID 19 crisis, and allowing Trump family members to run rampant over your responsibility to the nation to invoke the 25th Amendment?

Why are you not emphasizing masks, social distancing, and avoiding large rallies on your own part?

Why have you not condemned white nationalism groups, including QAnon and “Proud Boys”?

Why do you refuse to resist the policy of favoritism toward Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un, and other dictators, and the worsening relations of the nation with NATO, Canada, Japan, and South Korea?

Why do you show no concern about the immediate loss of health care for 20 million or more people, especially in the midst of a world wide pandemic?

How do you explain all of the failures of Trump, including on;

the Mexico wall:

no health care alternative and plans to gut Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security;

the inhumane treatment of immigrant children and their parents at the border;

the widespread corruption of Trump Cabinet officers and others;

Trump’s failure to match Barack Obama’s economic recovery; Trump’s constant attacks on veterans, Muslims, the disabled, and those who have died, including John McCain, and lack of respect for Ruth Bader Ginsburg;

and so many other shortcomings?

Harris will perform very well, with compassion, concern, empathy, decency, ethics, morality and persistence in asserting herself, and this will make her an excellent and principled Vice President under a President Joe Biden, who has the same character traits as she does.

And if circumstance puts Kamala Harris into the Oval Office, the nation will be well served and be in competent hands!

Tonight’s First Presidential Debate: The Middle Class Guy Vs The Phony Billionaire And Bully

Former Vice President Joe Biden enters tonight’s first Presidential debate in Cleveland against President Donald Trump in a position of strength. He is far ahead in most state polls, including in the Midwest where Hillary Clinton lost the election in 2016.

Biden is the middle class guy who has had struggles and tragedies in his life, much like the vast majority of Americans. He possesses naturally great compassion, empathy, decency, and tons of government experience as US Senator for 36 years and as one of the two best Vice Presidents in American history, alongside Walter Mondale.

Biden comes in with public opinion polls showing great strength for him among college educated voters of both genders; suburban women; African Americans; Latinos except for Cubans; Asian Americans; Jews; Social Justice Catholics; mainline Protestants; moderates; Independents; young voters; and a small sliver of Trump voters in 2016 who realize Donald Trump is a phony billionaire and bully!

Putting Biden in the Oval Office will give us a President with more background knowledge and expertise than any President when he entered the Presidency—more than Lyndon B. Johnson or George H. W. Bush.

Biden knows world leaders and can restore US foreign policy so that foreign allies can against trust our government.

Biden can restore much of the damage done to our domestic infrastructure and our government agencies that are so necessary to continue the advancements of the New Deal, Great Society, and the later accomplishments of Presidents of both parties from Richard Nixon to Barack Obama!

We will have a President who does not lie 20,000 times in three and a half years;

who will not ignore medicine and science;

who will pay his fair share of taxes;

who will not cheat on his wife with other women;

who will pick judges who understand that originalism is the wrong approach to law;

who will work to cross the aisle when possible, instead of constant insults and bullying of opponents and critics;

who will have a Vice President, Kamala Harris, who gives us confidence should there ever be an emergency;

who will restore faith in our basic values of democracy and freedom;

who will bring back honor and decency to the Oval Office;

and who will support total exposure of all crimes committed by the present incumbent of the White House!

Memo To American Jews Who Support Trump: You Are Overlooking History And Are Being Delusional!

This author and blogger is proud of his Jewish heritage, and pleased that two out of three American Jews support the Democratic Party, which historically, since Franklin D. Roosevelt, stands for the basic values that all decent American Jews believe in: Tolerance, open mindedness, compassion, empathy, decency, social justice!

That does not mean that there have never been Republicans historically who one could find appealing, and even, at times, vote for and support.

But for any American Jew to support Donald Trump, who is a clear cut Fascist with strong tendencies toward Adolf Hitler, not just Benito Mussolini, is shocking beyond belief!

If one voted for Donald Trump as an “outsider” amid thoughts that a businessman with no government experience was worthy of being given a shot at leadership, and had unexplained hatred toward Hillary Clinton in 2016 to motivate you, that is one thing.

But after four years of Donald Trump, not as an outsider, but as the 45th President, and having witnessed what he has wrought, it is beyond understanding why any American Jew would vote for Trump again!

Some would say, oh the economy was going great under Trump, when the economy was already going great under Barack Obama, who took us from the Great Recession to the greatest economic recovery that we have seen in American history, including even Franklin D. Roosevelt before World War II came along!

All that Trump did is continue an economic recovery already in effect for a number of years. And that economic recovery was very uneven, with his push for a massive tax cut for the top one to two percent, which added to the national debt, and now threatens Social Security and Medicare! And 40 percent of the nation cannot afford an emergency $400 expense!

Some would say, oh Trump has done so much for Israel, in moving ahead to recognize Jerusalem as their capital; accept Israeli annexation of the Golan Heights from Syria; and promote diplomatic and other ties between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Israel and Bahrain, which only deepen the conflict over the future of Israel and the Palestinians. Realize that the leaders of those Arab nations are autocrats, corrupt to the core, and have no ethical basis at all toward their own population.

Any intelligent American Jew KNOWS that this is just a ploy for Benjamin Netanyahu to hold off accountability for his corruption, which has led to trial in Israel. It is also simply a way to manipulate that portion of American Jewry that Trump counts upon to help him win reelection, who think that whatever the Israeli government wants, should be supported by the United States.

But this ignores the fact that Barack Obama gave more aid and defense support to Israel through his promotion of the IRON DOME missile system, despite Netanyahu’s hostile attitude toward him, and his collaborating with Republicans on Capitol Hill, including Speaker of the House John Boehner against Obama!

But Donald Trump meanwhile consorts with antisemites and white supremacists, as at Charlottesville in 2017, but also other actions and utterances that incite violence against anyone who disagrees with his destruction of the US Constitution and rule of law! And remember that Richard Spencer, David Duke, and other extremist right wing antisemites love Donald Trump!

Donald Trump is a racist big time, if anyone looks at his history. He promoted racial discrimination in his Queens New York properties, and is infamous for his constant attack on “the Central Park Five”, five young minority men, accused of rape and assault, who he campaigned against, and has refused to admit he was wrong and apologize, when they were shown to be innocent and released after many years.

Donald Trump is a nativist, who has no issue with caging children at the border, a reminder of the early concentration camps which imprisoned Jews and other people, before the extermination concept was formulated in Nazi Germany!

He promotes anti immigrant hysteria, even though his mother was an immigrant, and two of his three wives were immigrants. And despite his close association with Muslim authoritarians, such as Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, he promotes Islamophobia, showing what a total demagogue and hypocrite he is, and his constant attacks on the few Muslim members of Congress!

Donald Trump is also a misogynist, who has abused dozens of women personally, and associates with others who have done the same, and has the gall to brag about it, but also has refused to provide evidence when charges are brought against him. He makes Bill Clinton look like a “choir boy” by comparison!

Donald Trump promotes hatred in his rallies, making people laugh as he ridicules opponents and makes fun of journalists who have been wounded by rubber bullets or tear gas, as he believes all media and all political opponents should be in prison! No other President has ever conducted himself in such a despicable manner! He is still pursuing his goal of putting Hillary Clinton, the Obamas, and Joe Biden in prison, all signs of an authoritarian demagogue!

Donald Trump rejects science, and is responsible for the mass loss of life in the COVID 19 Pandemic, and encourages his followers NOT to wear masks or practice social distancing, including at his rallies. At the same time, he thinks of his followers as “disgusting”, and calls veterans who have died in wars “suckers” and “losers”!

One might say that Donald Trump has a Jewish son in law, Jared Kushner; a Jewish Secretary of the Treasury, Steve Mnuchin; and a key Jewish adviser, Stephen Miller; along with others who work for him who are Jewish. But these Jews represent an extremely privileged class, who put their basic Jewish values aside for the gaining of power and obscene wealth!

Donald Trump has lied more than 20,000 times in office, and has had, by far, the most corrupt administration and number of corrupt appointees ever seen in any Presidency, so how can any respectable American Jew support this?

If Donald Trump is reelected, he will become ever more a threat to the basic Jewish values that matter, and any American Jew who contributes to that horror, will go down in history, condemned for their inaction when they could have taken steps to end the nightmare of an American version of Benito Mussolini at the least, and god forbid, Adolf Hitler at the most!

Two Men With Common Trait Of Empathy, Compassion, And Humanity, Born 17 Years Apart: Robert F. Kennedy (1925) And Joe Biden (1942)

Tonight, June 4, a tragedy occurred 52 years ago, just after midnight so early June 5, the shooting of Senator Robert F. Kennedy just after he had accepted victory in the California primary, and seemed likely on his way to becoming the Democratic Presidential nominee in 1968.

This author and blogger was watching when RFK was shot and mortally wounded early on June 5, and passed away about 26 hours later, on June 6, 1968.

The world changed, and has never been the same, and one could say the whole history of the past half century could have been dramatically different had Kennedy lived.

It is not that RFK was perfect, and there was no absolute certainty that he would have been the nominee against Richard Nixon, or would have defeated him.

But there are many who think RFK was our destiny, and he was taken from us tragically.

With his faults and shortcomings, which all political leaders and all of us have, what stood out about RFK was his empathy, his compassion, his humanity.

Now, a half century later, we have a Democratic Presidential candidate, Joe Biden, who has similar traits of empathy, compassion, and humanity, and who was inspired as a young man by what RFK represented. Biden was in his mid 20s, and starting his nearly half a century of public service as a US Senator for 36 years and Vice President for 8 years.

And imagine the irony: Both RFK and Joe Biden were born on November 20, in 1925 and 1942 17 years apart!

It can be hoped that what RFK represented can be accomplished in some way by Joe Biden, when he, hopefully, will take the oath of office as the 46th President of the United States!

Joe Biden Makes Himself Available Regularly On The Internet: New Method Of Campaigning For President

The Presidential campaign of 2020 for Joe Biden has begun in a distinguished manner. There were people wondering where he was, but he has answered by presenting his ideas and concerns on a daily basis now that we are just about five months to Election Day!

Joe Biden is on the internet just about every day with a video or interview, as campaigning person to person is not possible with the COVID-19 Pandemic raging across the globe, and just today, the horrid figure of 100,000 deaths in three months, an average of 900 a day, stares at us.

At the rate that this pandemic is expanding, and with the expectation that there will be a second wave, based on history and science, we can expect, sadly, that there will be 200,000 dead by the end of August, and 300,000 by Thanksgiving!

So Joe Biden must campaign in a new way, and he manages to express thoughts of concern, empathy, compassion, decency, and humanity, but that is nothing new for Joe Biden, as that is who he is!

Meanwhile, Donald Trump expresses none of the above traits, and disgusts more Americans every day, who rightfully blame him for the inadequate response to the pandemic. There is the belief at least one third to maybe one half of the deaths could have been averted if actions had been taken in January and February and early March, rather than waiting to mid to late March, when the virus was spreading widely!

Joe Biden gives us hope and a Presidential presence, even though he is not President, reminding us of Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy and Barack Obama in his ability to deal with a crisis, although not of his making.